


This Is A Tough One

by Mums_the_Word



Category: White Collar
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Guardian Angels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-22
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-26 01:45:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7555309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mums_the_Word/pseuds/Mums_the_Word
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In this story, Peter is an angel who is sent down to Earth on a mission. He must try to salvage a miscreant named Neal Caffrey. Actually follows canon, if you can imagine it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Is A Tough One

     The Creator of all that encompasses this world and beyond sat upon His airy throne in His celestial palace. Today was the first of the month—a time to address the state of mortal things and keep His holy angels up to date on the progress, or lack thereof, on Earth. The archangels, the seraphim, and the cherubs had all assembled and respectfully gave Him their undivided attention.

     “Unfortunately,” the Creator began with a grimace, “Satan is still deeply entrenched in the fabric of Earth, and may even be turning the tide in his favor. It seems as if people are hell-bent on destroying each other in the name of some personal cause or desire. They appear to enjoy inflicting pain and suffering simply because they love the sadistic feeling that they experience. Murder, maiming, abuse, idolatry, lying, cheating, stealing, adultery—well, let Me tell you, the list of sins goes on and on, and the theme of ‘How Many Ways Can I Embrace Evil’ has expanded well out of proportion."

     There was much sad head shaking amongst the members of God’s audience, but none present had any ideas for a solution to turn this terrible tragedy around. Finally, one timid novice seraph meekly asked a question of Her Lord.

     “Maybe You could just wipe the slate clean, Sir, as You did with that flood, and start all over again with a few righteous and decent people?”

     God was thoughtful for a minute. “I don’t believe that is the answer since we’ve been there and done that before, and it wasn’t but a few millennium until the next civilization was back to the same point again. Until I can think of something else, I suppose that we’ll just have to beef up our own forces on Earth, and fight our battles one saved soul at a time.”

     When the meeting was over, all the heavenly hosts began filing out, but the Creator stopped Peter, one of His top archangels, and asked him to stay behind for a private conference.

     “Peter, My boy, you are the mightiest of My saintly soldiers,” the Lord began with a bit of well-earned praise for His faithful angel. “You may be one of the very few that could take on the assignment that I am handing you and achieve any degree of success. This is a tough one, Peter; I’m not going to sugarcoat it.”

     Peter was intrigued. “Whatever You need, Lord, just say the word. You know that I am your humble servant and will obey.”

     God sighed deeply, and laid out the problem.

     “There is a young man down there on Earth who is currently riding the cusp, Peter, and unfortunately the slightest of breezes could push him over to one side or the other. He is one of My most perfect creations, endowed with superior looks and intelligence, but, most importantly, deep within him is a good and gentle heart. However, his beginnings were hard, and disappointment led to distrust. Then he embarked on a path that led him even farther astray. Currently, he is under the influence of a less than benevolent little imp, who certainly could be managed with just the right amount of My interference, if I were so inclined. However, I am more fearful of other evil people who are now part of his life. Those souls are already part of Satan’s minions, and if this young man continues to keep company with them, I fear that he will be lost to our side forever.”

     “So,” Peter theorized, “You want me to go down there and get him into the proper, virtuous mindset, once and for all. Sort of put the fear of God into him, right? You want me to scare him into walking the straight and narrow path.”

     “No, no, Peter,” God cautioned, “I don’t want you to frighten him or force him into doing anything. After all, I gave man free will to choose how he should conduct his life. This soul needs to _want_ to do the right thing for the right reason. However, I am not saying that a little nudge in the correct direction would be a bad thing. I will leave the “how” to your discretion. Just try to save this boy, Peter, because he is capable of great things if properly motivated. I certainly don’t want to lose him.”

     “May I ask this juvenile delinquent’s name, Lord,” Peter asked.

     “Ah, that is one of the many problems,” God sighed. “He utilizes numerous names, and I believe that may be because he still is trying to find out who he really is. But, never fear, I am sure that you will recognize the miscreant when you meet him. I am putting My ultimate faith in you, Peter, and I wish you good luck. Like I told you before, this is a tough one!”

~~~~~~~~~~

     Now, when angels are sent to Earth on a mission, they retain none of the memories from previous ones. Traces of residual recollections might just muddy the waters and prove to be a distraction. So, Peter arrived with what you might call a blank palette for this op. However, when he met Elizabeth, Peter felt an almost tangible bond with this sweet creature, and he suspected that they had been together before in another lifetime.

     The archangel settled into a comfortable niche quite easily, and time fast-forwarded like a flipbook until he found himself firmly ensconced in the FBI White Collar division compulsively pursuing a young thief/forger/con man extraordinaire named James Bonds. Could this young punk be the one that God insisted that he try to save? The kid was brilliant and brazen—a lethal combination when combined with the impulsiveness of youth. He also had incomprehensibly latched onto Peter, his pursuer, and continually poked the FBI agent with teasing prods of gloating phone calls and tantalizing clues that went nowhere. Peter’s gut told him that this little twerp was definitely the object of his mission.

     Mortals should take heed—never mess with a determined angel who has an agenda! Peter knew that pride was a sin, so he would not allow himself to feel that treacherous emotion when he ultimately snared his quarry, who finally had a name—Neal Caffrey. Actually, Peter felt a bit embarrassed. He had not really outsmarted the kid. He had simply taken perhaps unfair advantage of the young man’s longing for the girl who owned his heart. Peter would give Neal his dues. The boy was faithful and loved unconditionally.

     Peter saw the good in Neal, just as the Creator had when He tasked Peter with trying to save him. Maybe clipping Neal’s wings for a while would quell his rash and illegal impulses. But, on the flip side of the coin, being locked up for four years with dangerous criminals put the non-violent young man in danger of becoming something else entirely. The Supermax Federal penitentiary could become an institute of higher learning for a kid who probably hadn’t even finished high school. In four years, Neal could possibly earn an advanced doctorate degree in how to break the law in a myriad of ways, and not all of them in a benign, non-violent fashion.

     So, Peter made sure to have a little heart-to-heart talk with the convicted criminal just before the transport bus took him from Rikers Island to Ossining.

     “Look, Neal, I know that four years seems like a lifetime to somebody your age. But, think of it as a time-out to re-evaluate where your life was heading before I took you down. Just do your time, keep your head down, and don’t make waves. Spend your incarceration productively by getting your GED or some college credits and learning a useful trade that does not entail forging or stealing something. And when you get out, I’ll look you up to make sure that you have a new purpose in life—staying on the straight and narrow and making something of yourself on the outside.”

     “Aw, Agent Burke, you’re concerned about me. That is just so sweet,” Neal smirked, but Peter suspected it was all false bravado. The kid was putting up a plucky front because he was about to step into the dangerous unknown. Perhaps, at that moment, Peter admired Neal even more because he had real guts and was not a “poor me” whiner.

     Even though Peter had come to respect Neal, he found that, just as during the chase, the young felon could cause Peter no small amount of frustration. That is exactly the emotion that the archangel was entertaining when he was told that Neal had walked out of Sing Sing just three months short of completing his four-year sentence. It was almost too easy to throw the net over him again in an abandoned apartment, although it was painfully clear what his innocent motivation had been.

     So, Peter reasoned, his mission was far from over, and it was on to phase two! This time, the archangel had to be more innovative as well as more closely attentive. That was a snap thanks to Peter’s creative finagling. Neal presumed to think that helping Peter solve cases was his own idea. In truth, it was really the archangel who had put that thought into his mind. Was that cheating, Peter wondered?

~~~~~~~~~~

     Peter agreed with God’s assessment that Neal was still trying to find out who he was, and had an annoying habit of trying on different assumed personas to see how they fit. That is exactly what the young man did just one day after Peter had sprung him from prison. This time around, it was Rat Pack vintage suits and hats. Peter inwardly groaned. This did not bode well for a smooth transition. Neal liked to live behind a façade, and his willingness to aid Peter in FBI work was a thinly veiled sham. The archangel knew exactly what Neal was involved in, and that was finding Kate, the siren that Peter needed to get a bead on as soon as possible.

     Peter had already familiarized himself with the current players in his new CI’s world. June appeared to be a sweet, grandmotherly matron, but the angel’s gut detected vestiges of a shrewd and formidable con woman. He would have to keep a close eye on her. Now, Neal’s little imp was a horse of a different color. Peter sensed unwavering devotion in Mozzie, but also a very obvious streak of mayhem. Of course, Peter could make it his business to remove the little irritant, but he suspected that would be counterproductive. If he severed Neal and Mozzie’s relationship, it would, no doubt, destroy any hope of establishing rapport and trust with the object of his mission. What a convoluted ball of wax, Peter sighed. However, he had promised his Lord to give it his all, and failure was just not an option in Peter’s book.

     Faith and trust did not come easily for either mortal or angel. Actually, Peter would not trust Neal as far as he could throw him. His CI tended to get the job done, but in a less than acceptable, legal way. Peter covered for his charge so many times that he began to lose count. However, one day he had to admit that he had failed when Neal had stolen a rare pink diamond. He visited Neal in jail, and used that time-honored strategy of a disappointed parent.

     “You let me down, Neal,” he scolded in a voice fraught with sadness and defeat, although maybe it wasn’t far from the truth.

     However, Peter was temporarily stopped in his tracks when Neal insisted that he had not let his handler down. Somehow, Peter believed him, and did the unthinkable. He went rogue and shielded the escaped criminal in his townhouse until, eventually, they could prove his innocence.

     The road to redemption continued to have many ruts, however. Another case had Neal suspecting _Peter_ of working against _him_ , and the angel almost lost the young man because, of course, this latest intrigue was all about Kate. Previous to this current lapse of faith, Peter had made it his business to confront the tempting little hussy in a hotel room. Truthfully, Peter certainly could not fathom why a smart and perceptive Neal didn’t see right through her. The love of Neal’s life had her own agenda going on, and Peter doubted that she really cared as deeply for Neal as the poor guy imagined.

     Regardless of how Peter felt about Kate, her death at the hands of one of Satan’s henchmen was devastating and heart-wrenching. The archangel, even with all of his potent heavenly power, suddenly felt helpless as he held onto Neal and tried to will some of his own strength into a broken man whom he had affectionately come to love like a son. Peter was not sure that he should have allowed himself to feel that attachment to the object of his mission, but it was what it was. When Neal hurt, so did Peter. Then, a fleeting thought crossed Peter’s mind. Perhaps Neal was doing his penance and enduring the flames of Purgatory right here on Earth. But now the nebulous question was, would it cleanse his soul or harden it?

~~~~~~~~~~

     Peter did his ultimate best to pull Neal from the deep abyss of despair after Kate’s death. He thought that he might have been winning the war until one afternoon it took all of his supernatural strength to keep Neal from crossing over to the dark side. Garrett Fowler was already a lost soul, but thankfully, Peter finally managed to drag Neal back from the jaws of eternal damnation before he committed the unforgivable sin of murder.

     Time passed, and along the way, Peter met many demons from hell—Matthew Keller and Vincent Adler, to name a few. But, the Nazis, the ultimate spawns of Satan, were the impetus behind almost losing Neal once again. Suddenly, there was a complete lack of trust and an almost unbreachable rift between handler and CI. Peter began thinking that maybe he should have neutralized Mozzie’s influence from the start. The lure of the ultimate white whale was perhaps too much temptation for the two con men.

     In hindsight, Peter had to admit that even archangels can make bone-headed miscalculations, and inviting Philip Kramer into the situation proved to be extremely unwise down the line. Eventually, Kramer’s sin of avarice put Neal in jeopardy. Things were going from bad to worse, but in the end, it was Peter who sort of bent the rules and sent Neal out of harm’s way. Peter was sure that God would understand His emissary’s extreme decision that was made for the greater good. Maybe—maybe not. Figuratively, the archangel had provided a temporary fix when he had impetuously stuck his finger in the hole to plug the dike. So perhaps Peter’s “penance” for such rash action was flying in cramped coach class almost half-way around the world to bring Neal back into the fold.

     The long saga of “Saving Neal” seemed to go on forever, but the latest wrinkle was the con man’s long-absent father. Peter ultimately sensed the blackness in the man’s soul, and wondered how such an evil man could produce a son with a kind and gentle heart. Peter had to take it on the chin because of this nefarious man, and Neal, as usual, tried to fix things in his own way. Of course, that only succeeded in making them worse. Peter was about ready to pack it in, go home to Heaven, and admit to his Lord and Master that he had failed. Never before had he not fulfilled a mandate, so this thing stuck in his craw. However, after thinking it through, Peter came up with a delaying tactic. He concluded that perhaps a buffer was needed between himself and his CI.

     Sometimes, Peter wished that he had the Creator’s omniscience and could foresee the future. Then he would have never placed innocent Agent Siegel in harm’s way. It was almost karmic that it was Peter and Neal who finally took down his killer, and Peter hoped that the young slain transfer from Chicago had gained his rightful place in Heaven.

     Time passed in a blur of years until one day Peter marveled at the transformation in Neal. Once he had been a callow, impetuous youth, but that immature kid had grown into a strong and resilient man who was on his own mission to gain his freedom. One last case should do it, Peter thought to himself. Then I truly believe that I’ll have brought Neal around and we’ll be home free. The Pink Panthers were formidable, but Peter had the might of righteousness on his side, as well as a very talented safecracking con artist. The only fly in the ointment was the evil Matthew Keller. Sometimes, Peter wished that God would just smite that little sucker down with a well-placed lightning bolt, but then Peter realized that he should not entertain such uncharitable thoughts even though they were true. It had all gone so well—until it hadn’t.

     Reluctantly, Peter returned to Heaven to stand before God.

     “Lord, I am heartily sorry for having failed You,” Peter began in an abashed tone. “It was a long drawn-out fight, but, in the end, I lost. I could not save Neal Caffrey’s eternal soul. I truly thought that he was converted to the side of moral right and justice, but, unfortunately, I was wrong. At the eleventh hour, he succumbed to temptation, made a deal with a minion of the devil, and that cost him his life. I feel miserable that I could not convince him to forsake the allure of riches for a virtuous life before his sad end.”

     God smiled down on His despondent archangel.

     “Peter, you did not fail. Neal, with the purest of intentions, made the ultimate “sacrifice” to protect those whom he loved. In time, you will come to understand that. But, for now, do not unpack your bags. Soon you will be going off on another mission that is sort of a continuation of the first. Actually, it might be a good idea to bone up on your French, My faithful friend, because you are headed to Paris.”


End file.
